Promises
by Lanane
Summary: [Ending spoilers.] 'We both made our promises, and I’ll be damned if I let either one of us break them.'
1. A Second Chance

Promises

Chapter 1

"Asch! Asch, c'mon! Are you with me?"

Asch slowly opened his eyes and was met with darkness. As his vision adjusted, a face began to appear, a face identical to his own. "I see you died too. Did you at least bring Van down with you?"

Luke cocked his head and looked to the side. "Well…Yes and no."

Asch's eyes widened in rage. He jumped to his feet and grabbed Luke by the collar. "What the hell are you saying? I didn't die just for you to loose to Van!"

"You don't understand! Van is dead; it's me that's not!"

Asch's hands dropped to his sides as he stared, dumfounded, at his replica. "What? But…But how…?

"And you're alive too."

"What?" Asch turned around and shook his head. "But that's impossible! I thought…I _know_ I died…"

"You did." Luke closed his eyes as he recalled the day's events. "I still can't get rid of the felling I got when you…"

"What the hell are you trying to say?" Asch snarled as he glared at Luke. "You're not making any sense!"

"That's because I don't really understand it myself." Luke crossed his and stared off into the darkness. All I know is that after I killed Ma— Van and released Lorelei, I started to descend into a fissure that had opened. It must have gone through the room we were trapped in, as your body fell through and I managed to catch it." Luke noticed Asch shudder at the thought of his own dead body, but he kept going. "Anyway, Lorelei appeared before me and thanked me, and I felt my body begin to disappear."

Luke paused, then looked back toward Asch. "This next part I'm not sure of. Right before Lorelei headed for the fon belt, he enveloped the both of us. Then there was this blinding light, and the next thing I know, I'm in this hole, solid, and you have a pulse."

Asch sat down. His head was spinning, and he wasn't sure how long he would have been able to stand. Was Lorelei really able to restore both his and his replica's bodies? Asch wasn't sure, but that didn't matter. The most important thing at that time was finding a way out. "Do you have any idea where we are?" Asch asked without looking up.

Luke sighed. "If I had to guess, I'd say somewhere near the core."

"The core?! What was the point in reviving me if we're in a place like this? We'll starve before we know if we're even going in the right direction!"

"Maybe not. Before Lorelei left, he said that as long as there are enough seventh fonons around, we'd remain energized. Something about fonon frequencies. Anyway, I've felt a steady stream of seventh fonons flowing through here, and I'm not hungry, even though I haven't eaten in about five hours."

"That still doesn't solve the problem of getting out of here. Give me your coat."

Luke looked confused. "Why?"

"Just do it, Replica!"

"Fine, whatever," Luke snapped. He balled up the coat and threw it at Asch. "You could stand to be a little nicer."

Asch ignored him and tore a strip of cloth off the coat.

"Hey!" Luke yelled. "That's expensive!"

"Shut up." Asch took out a large bottle of some sort of liquid and poured some on the strip. He then took out his sheath, wrapped the cloth around the opening, and stuck the end into the ground. Finally, he began chanting, "Bring all to ash and ruin…Explosion!"

The entire cavern-like area erupted in fire light, revealing several tunnels and crevices that had originally been hidden in the darkness. Then the light dispersed, leaving only a small flame upon the crude torch Asch had constructed.

"Wow," Luke said as his eyes shined in the dim fire light, "This place is a lot bigger than I thought."

Asch threw Luke's coat back to him. "Hold on to that. This torch won't last forever."

"Hey, what did you pour on that thing anyway?" Luke asked as he put his damaged coat back on.

"Hair gel."

Luke laughed. "Wait, are you saying that the stuff you put in your hair is flammable?"

Asch glared back at Luke. "Yeah. What's your point?"

Luke smiled and threw up his hands. "Damn. I wish I knew that earlier. I could have learned some fifth fonic artes, and that fight we had in Eldrant would have gone a lot faster."

"You're not funny."

Luke smirked. "Sorry, must be in the genes."

Asch ignored him and picked up his flaming sheath. He walked over to a tunnel on a far wall. "The seventh fonons seem to be flowing through here." He turned back toward Luke. "If I'm right, these are remnant memory particles trying to make it to the surface. If we follow this stream, we should be able to make it out."

Luke folded his arms with a smug look on his face. "What, so you actually _want_ to work with me now?"

"At this point, I really don't have a choice," Asch snapped as he turned back toward the tunnel.

Luke smiled and ran up to Asch and linked arms, saying, "Alright comrade, to the exit!"

"Let go of me or I'll kill you."

"Yesh," Luke said as he backed off, "You're gonna need to lighten up or this trek is going to be unbearably long."

After that, the two walked on in silence until the flame went out.

"Dammit!" Asch yelled as darkness enveloped them. "Hey Replica, give me another piece of you coat."

Luke dropped to the ground with a sigh. "Why don't we just call it a night? I'm tired."

"If we stop now, we'll never make it out of here!"

"Well if you keep going, you're going to pass out. You've been tripping over every single little rock for the past ten minutes."

"…Fine," Asch finally said as he allowed himself to collapse, "But we leave at dawn."

"How do we know when it's dawn?"

"…Shut up and go to sleep."

-------------

Yeah, I know Luke did a crappy job of explaining what happened, but he's not very knowledgeable about this matter (What _is_ he knowledgeable about?), so I didn't want to put him out of character. I'll explain that stuff now. The whole "We don't have to eat!" thing is little more than a plot device. I need to keep them down there for two years, and the whole starving to death thing could pose a problem. So I thought, "Hey, they're perfect isofons of the collective conscience of seventh fonons, so couldn't they live just on the energy of a lot of seventh fonons?" Sure, why not.

As for the whole "We're both alive!" thing, that'll take a bit more explaining.

THEORY TIME!

The most popular end theories are that either Luke comes back alive, which makes the most sense with the story elements of the game; or that Asch comes back alive, which makes the most sense with the science elements of the game. I, however, never like to make things easy, so of course, I read between the lines and read waaaaaaay too much into different events of the game, and I have now come to the conclusion that both of them made it out alive (obviously, as the above chapter indicates). So where's my proof? Well, read on, reader!

Okay, first, we need to know a bit about "The Big Bang." Based on two conversations Jade has with Spinoza and Dist, we know these three things: The Big Bang is a theory developed by the almost-never-wrong Jade, that it is supposedly inevitable between an original and replica when they are perfect isofons of each other, and that the original's fonic and strike artes weaken as the time of the Big Bang approaches. What we don't know, however, is what the Big Bang actually is. Although it is never actually stated, what happens to Star the Cheagle is implied to be a Big Bang.

So what happened to Star? Well, the poor thing was used as a lab rat by Dist, who replicated a perfect isofon of Star. When your party first encounters Star, it has been about a month(+) since Dist started experimenting on him. At this point, Star's fonic abilities are much weaker than its replica's, even though the original is supposed to be stronger. This suggests that the process leading up to the Big Bang had already begun. In fact, the process may have begun the moment the replica was created. After about three more months(+), when the party finally lets Star out, the replica is missing. When Jade later questions Star about this, Star says that he himself had died, and after he died, he felt something warm flow into him. The next thing he knew, he was alive, and the replica was gone. To sum up: When the Big Bang occurs, the original dies. The replica then sends its life force into the original, both causing the original to revive and the replica to disappear. (Dist also says something implying that the disappearing party's memories would also be inherited, but Star never confirms this.)

We now look at Asch and Luke's case. In the Cheagle case, the original became weaker immediately, but Asch was fine for over seven years. Why is that? I believe that the answer lies with Lorelei. When people keep saying that the Big Bang needs to happen between Asch and Luke because they're perfect isofons, a lot of them seem to forget that Lorelei is also a perfect isofon of the Fabre boys. Of course, no one suggests a Big Bang involving Lorelei. (And I doubt one could have happened, considering that he shoots up into the fon belt in the end.) My thinking is that Lorelei somehow inhibited the whole Big Bang process, that his presence as a third wheel of sorts helped to ground Asch and Luke, and it kept them from merging. When Van absorbed Lorelei, however, this influence weakened. That may be why Asch started to freak out after the Absorption Gate. (He could feel his abilities decline after Lorelei was trapped.)

Now let's talk about Lorelei. We know that Lorelei is the collective conscience of the seventh fonon, the healing fonon. But what's the extent of those healing powers? Well, Van shows us that Lorelei can stabilize separating fonons (Van said that his fonons were separating when he was falling toward the core.), as well as resurrect the dead (There is no way that Sync was still alive. Even if he had survived the plummet to the core, he would have starved to death by that point.). Now, who else do we know that either died or had their fonons separating?

Fast forward to the ending. Luke just freed Lorelei, Luke is now holding Asch's body, and Lorelei is congratulating Luke for screwing over the planet's memory. I think it would have been awfully rude for Lorelei to just go, "Kthxbai!" and leave the two guys that just saved his ass to their unfortunate fates. No. Lorelei resurrected Asch (You saw the hand move, right?) and stabilized Luke, and Lorelei's renewed presence in the world kept the Big Bang from happening. The big flashy part was just the finalization of what Lorelei had done.

Of course, this is but one possible future of many. ;)

(+)These time frames are estimates I made from looking at the three dates given in the game (Beginning—Rem-Decan 23, ND2018; The Return to Baticul—Gnome-Decan 2, ND2018; Post-Absorption Gate—Gnome-Redecan 28, ND2018), and the time frame given in the Star-Jade conversation (six months). As these are just estimates, they may be off by a month or so.


	2. Sylophabren

Promises

Chapter 2

_Asch held his beloved princess in a gentle embrace._

"_Natalia," he whispered as he took her face into his hands, "I've missed you so much." He then leaned in for a passionate kiss. When they broke away, Natalia began to fade._

_Fear crossed Asch's face. "Natalia?" He reached out to her, but she drifted farther away. Then the world went black._

As Asch adjusted to the darkness, he discovered to his horror that Natalia was no longer in his warm embrace. In her stead was Luke, his replica. Asch did the only logical thing he could think of; he screamed.

Luke jumped up in fright. "What? What's going on?"

"W-What the hell were you doing sleeping so close to me?!" Asch screeched as he trembled in a combination of rage and embarrassment.

Luke cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"

"You! I don't know what kind of homosexual fantasy you may be having, but I want no part of it!"

"Hey!" Luke shouted defensively. "For your information, my fantasy involved Tear shoving her breasts in my face, which you put an end to. What kind of gay guy would have a dream like that?"

Asch grimaced. "Why are you telling me this?"

"But for some reason, they were all dried and cracked," Luke muttered under his breath. He then turned his attention back to Asch. "And besides, I was sleeping against this wall, and you were by that one. Now we're in the middle." Luke smirked. "So, what's your excuse for moving in the middle of the night? Maybe you're the one keeping secrets…"

"Hell no!" Asch's face turned as red as his hair. "I was dreaming about Natalia! I was kissing her beautiful, smooth, luscious lips, and _you_ had to ruin it!"

"Sure, whatever," Luke said as Asch cursed and tried to reassemble a torch. An idea came to Luke's mind as Asch tore cloth from his uniform. Luke put his hand to his mouth and then asked, "Hey Asch? Are your lips chapped?"

Asch was just about to begin chanting, and was rather annoyed at being interrupted. "What the hell has that got to do with anything?"

"Oh, just the difference between whether or not I really, really need some mouthwash."

"What?" Asch tilted his head in confusion. He shook his head and finished with the torch. As soon he got the flame, he turned pale as the realization hit him full in the face. He put his hand over his mouth and muttered, "Oh hell no…"

Luke walked over and put his hand on Asch's shoulder. "Just don't think about it, and it never happened."

Asch violently jerked away. "Don't touch me!" He then pointed a finger at his replica. "Thanks to you, I'll never even be able to _look_ at Natalia again!"

Luke shrugged. "Oh, I doubt that, especially once you see her in the swim suit…"

Asch glared at him. "What are you talking about?"

Luke smiled. "Oh, just something Emperor Peony put together for her. The top is little more than two criss-crossed ribbons. Though I much prefer seeing Tear in her suit. Sure, it's more modest, but her bigger breasts more than make up for it."

"You are the most vulgar…"

"Yet you're the one trying so hard to picture Natalia in that swim suit."

"I-I am not!"

"Then why are you blushing?"

"Sh-shut up! We're leaving!"

"Alright then." Luke smiled and followed behind his original.

Not a word was spoken for at least another hour. Then, Luke lived up to his reputation and started complaining.

"Hey Asch? Can we stop for a second? I think I have a rock in my shoe."

Asch stopped and sighed. "Would you hurry up, Replica?"

Luke glared at him as he took off his shoe. "Would you please stop saying that?"

"Saying what?"

"Stop calling me 'Replica!'" Luke yelled as he slammed his foot back into his shoe. "I know that's probably all I am to you, but I'm not just your replica. I'm a human being; I have my own memories, emotions, and free will, ones that are different from yours. I'm getting tired of you just disregarding that!"

Asch turned around and stared blankly at Luke. He didn't say a word.

Luke sighed. "I'm not asking for your respect, nor that you call me 'Luke,' because I know that might be awkward. All I want is for you to start treating me like a human being."

Asch turned his back to him, and for the longest time, he didn't say anything. Luke was about to give up on accomplishing anything when Asch sighed. "Fine." Asch turned back toward Luke. "Is Destreicir okay with you?"

Luke smiled. "What does that mean?"

"Spoiled child."

Luke's smile dropped as he crossed his arms. "Hey!"

Asch smirked. "Then how about Sylophabren? To answer your question, it means 'Annoying little brother.'"

Luke's frown changed to an expression of surprise.

Asch cocked his head. "What, you don't like that one either?"

"No," started Luke, "It's just that…this is the first time that you've considered me t be like a brother to you…"

Asch glared at him. "You're acting too sentimental. I didn't mean it like that." He then turned around and continued walking.

A goofy grin spread across Luke's face as he pranced up to Asch and grabbed him from behind, shouting, "I have a big brother!"

Asch stumbled in surprise. "L-let go of me or I'll kill you!"

"Not until you hug me back, _Big Brother_."

"…Oh darkened storm clouds let loose thy blade…"

"Okay!" Luke yelled as he jumped back, "I let go!"

Asch sighed. "Well, you were right about one thing, Sil," he said through clenched teeth," This is going to be unbearably long."

---------------

Ha ha! Asch is a homophobe! …And Luke apparently isn't. He's probably used to gay cracks from the maids about him and Guy because of Guy's little woman problem, so it probably doesn't faze him anymore. (Oh, and for all you yaoi lovers, that was the last scene that even hints and AschXLuke. The rest is strictly LukeXTear and AschXNatalia…well, as much as it can be without the girls present.) Oh, and I'll be shortening Sylophabren to Sil, as I just _know_ I'll keep misspelling it otherwise…And speaking of which, the name is supposed to be Ancient Ispanian, which is why Asch knows what it means and Luke doesn't.

The first rule of all things related to TotA: It always comes back to Tear's boobs.


	3. The Promise We Made

Promises

Chapter 3

Asch and Luke continued to trudge along the cavernous path. Luke's coat was completely gone, as was half of Asch's uniform, both of which were used to fuel the torch. At this point, however, the flame was unlit. After their resources began to dwindle, the two had decided to use the torch only during emergencies, as there was still a small amount of visibility, probably due to the stream of seventh fonons.

"Dammit!" Asch yelled as he smashed his foot into a rock.

Luke turned back to face his original. "Are you okay?"

"This is so hopeless! We've been wandering around down here for weeks and still haven't found anything! We're never going to get out…"

"Well, we have to keep trying. Besides, everyone is—"

"You think they're still _waiting_ for us? Face it Sil, they think we're both dead. Besides, the only one among us they care about is you, and even that will fade. Just look at how quickly they got over me…"

Asch's pessimistic speech was interrupted as Luke landed a hard left into his stomach. Asch fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"Wh-what the hell was that for?" Asch wheezed.

"You're a lot of things, Asch," Luke said with a look of disgust, "But I never would have thought you'd be a hypocrite."

"What?"

"Back when I was depressed about being a replica, when I thought that I was just a worthless copy with no place in the world, you got pissed off at me. Now you're doing the same damn thing!"

Asch scrambled to his feet and glared hatefully at Luke. "Don't you _dare_ compare yourself to me. You don't know anything! If my so-called friends and family really cared about me, why didn't they notice that I never came home eight years ago? Why didn't they question whether or not you were really me?"

Luke closed his eyes and shook his head. "You're an idiot. All I ever heard from them was, 'You've changed,' or 'It's like you've become another person.' And what about Natalia? You prop—"

"Natalia is engaged to 'Luke,'" Asch cut in, "She doesn't give a damn which one of us that is."

Luke took another swing at Asch, but Asch managed to catch it. Luke glared. "If that was true, then why did she look at me like she wished that I was dead instead of you?"

Luke pulled away and turned his back to his original. "I'll never forget the way she looked when I told that you had died. It was the expression of someone who knew they had just lost the person they love."

Asch was taken aback, but that didn't stop him from commenting. "How would _you_ know what that looked like?"

"Because," Luke said as a sad smile came to his lips, "It was the same expression Tear had as she was leaving…right before she said that she loved me…"

Asch stared at him. "And you think Natalia is…that she…"

"Loves you?" Luke finished, annoyed at Asch's inability to pronounce the big l-word. "Yeah, I do. And even if I'm completely wrong, that doesn't change the fact that we both made a promise."

"A promise? What the hell are you talking about?"

"I promised Tear and the others that I would come home. And you," Luke smiled at Asch. "You promised Natalia that you would marry her."

"I already told you, 'Luke' proposed to her, and that was a long time ago."

"Then why did you repeat your proposal to her at Sheridan?"

"That was…" Asch stopped mid-sentence and glared at Luke. "How the hell do _you_ know that? You bastard, you were eavesdropping on us!"

Luke backed away. "Hey, I was only checking on Natalia!"

"Then why didn't you leave once I got there?"

"Well…" Suddenly Luke was very glad he was the only one with a sword. "That's not the point. We both made our promises, and I'll be damned if I let either one of us break them."

"Why do you keep bringing up that damn proposal?"

"Because I know you still want to marry her!" Asch looked away and didn't say anything. "And that's not the only promise I was talking about. You promised me in Eldrant that you'd get out of all of this alive."

"I only said that so you would hurry up and leave. Not that it matters. We don't even know if there's any way out of here."

Luke was about to say something, but he was stopped by a loud screech as a large, furry mass slammed into his face and knocked him over. Luke grabbed the Key of Lorelei and swung, but only succeeded in nearly impaling Asch, as the creature had already flown away.

Asch stared out into the darkness, trying to see the retreating monster. "Was that a bat?"

"I don't know!" Luke shrieked. "I was too busy trying to not get killed!"

Asch folded his arms. "If a monster that large fell with Eldrant, it should have starved to death by now. Unless…"

Luke jumped to his feet and smiled. "Unless there's a way out to food."

"It might have flown in from a high location. There's no guarantee that we can reach the same route." Asch's eyes fell to Luke's hand, which was still clutching the Key. "And put that damn sword away. You're making me nervous."

Luke sheathed the sword just as a ligarre waddled by. Asch stared after it "Well, that destroys my theory. C'mon Sil, we're getting out of this hellhole."

-----------

So now we know why I picked the title I did. :p 

I'm making Asch look like an emo-kid. :p But can you blame him? He's detached himself from everyone because one, he was replaced by Luke, and no one (in his mind) saw the difference. That's definitely good for the self-esteem. Two, he thought/knew he was going to die, and he wouldn't have wanted to get reattached because it would be too painful for everyone when he died, and I doubt that he wanted Natalia to suffer. (A lot of good _that_ did…) He keeps guarding himself like that because he doesn't want to experience or cause any more painful emotions. He doesn't want to get his hopes up just to find that he really is trapped forever with the idi— Luke, but now that he sees that there must be some way out, that there's really a chance to return to a life like the one he had before he was kidnapped, his perspectives might change a bit. Well, that's the way I see it, anyway. :)


	4. The Next Journey

Promises 

Chapter 4

Luke shielded his eyes as another shaft of light fell upon him. They were becoming more frequent, but Asch and Luke no longer got excited over them, as they had been appearing for little over a week now.

A light breeze blew through the cavern, playing with Luke's hair, which was now about as long as it was before he cut it in Yulia City. The wind carried a piece of it into a snag in the wall, but Luke didn't notice until it ripped out a few seconds later.

"Ow!" Luke grabbed his head where the hair pulled out. "Dammit, not again!"

Asch laughed. "I keep telling you that you should cut your hair." Asch's own hair now fell just below his shoulders.

Luke cocked his head at him. "Why should I do that? After all, you seemed pretty pissed when I cut your hair."

Asch folded his arms. "That's because one, I never asked you to do it. Two, you did it when I was _asleep_. Three, you nicked my neck and I still have the scar. And four, you made me look like you after I kicked your ass in the Qliphoth."

"Hey, that was a good haircut! If we were up top, you would have been all the rage with the girls."

Asch rolled his eyes in response.

Luke smiled. He had noticed a change come over Asch since they had been down there. He was smiling and laughing more, and he didn't seem to yell much any more. Sure there, were still those times when Luke wanted to shove the Key of Lorelei through his face, but that's to be expected. It almost seemed as if he was acting the way Guy and Natalia described before the kidnapping.

Suddenly, an astonished look came over Luke's face as he clutched his stomach.  
"What's the matter?" Asch asked.

"I think…I'm hungry…"

Asch looked down and put his hand on his own stomach. "Now that you mention it, I am too."

"But Lorelei said that we wouldn't need to eat down here…"

Asch's face lit up as he took off down the path.

"Hey Big Brother, what are you doing?" Luke shouted. He had started calling Asch 'Big Brother' as a joke to piss him off, but after awhile, the name just stuck.

"The remnant memory particles are probably dispersing," Asch yelled back. He came to a stop in front of a boulder. "If that's true then…" He felt around the edges of the boulder and smiled when he felt wind coming from the cracks. "…There's a way out. Sil, get over here and help me move this thing."

"O-okay." Luke rushed over and they started to move the rock. After about five minutes, they had created a large enough opening for them to squeeze through. What they saw on the other side baffled them.

"Meggiora Highlands?!" Luke shouted.

"How the hell did we end up here?"

"Well…" Luke scratched his head. "If we were near the core, I guess it would make sense to come up near a passage ring…"

A moment later, both of their stomachs rumbled audibly.

Asch sighed. "Okay, I'll make a fire. Sil, you go out and kill something."

"Why can't I make the fire and you kill something?"

"Because you're the only one with a sword, and I'm the only one who knows fonic artes."

"…Fine." Luke grumbled as he took out his sword. As Luke went out to hunt, Asch set his eyes on a dead-looking tree not far from where he was standing.

It didn't take long for Luke to find an armaboar. He hid behind a rock, down-wind from it, hoping to catch it off guard. "Here, piggy piggy piggy…" he chanted as he waited for it to get close.

Suddenly, the wind changed, and the monster caught whiff of Luke and started charging. "Oh crap…" Luke started running at it, and just before he was about to strike, a sword fell from the sky and electrocuted the boar to death.

"What the hell?" Luke looked behind him to see Asch stretched out on a rock. "I thought you said that I was going to get food!"

"You were taking to long. Besides, I'm already done with my task." Asch pointed toward the dead tree, which was now a towering inferno.

Luke's jaw dropped. "Don't you think you went a little overboard?"

"If I left you to do it, it wouldn't even be lit yet." Asch slid down off the rock. "Anyway, since I made the fire and the kill, you can haul the carcass over here and gut it."

Luke glared at him. "You know, I really hate you sometimes."

Asch smirked and made his way back to his raging bonfire.

Just as the two were taking the first few bites of their over-cooked meal, they heard an all-too familiar sound.

They turned around to see an Albiore land about 60 yards away. Asch and Luke rushed over just as the pilot began to emerge.

"Well, I'll be," said the old man, "I was just giving the Albiore VII a test flight when I saw that wild fire of yours and decided to investigate. But I never thought…I can't believe you two are still alive…"

Luke smiled. "It's great to see you, Aston. Now…could we go back to your place and get something to eat?"

Aston laughed. "You boys are the reason Auldrant is still here. Of course you can come over and eat!"

Asch and Luke looked at each other and then raced on board. Luke grinned. "And you thought we'd never make it out."

"…Shut up, Sil."


	5. The City of Craftsmen

Promises

Chapter 5

"Was this always here?" Luke asked as the Albiore settled on a landing dock.

"Nope," Aston replied. "This airport was put in shortly after you two disappeared."

"How long were we gone?" Asch asked.

"Well, today's Lorelei-Decan 37, ND2020."

"My birthday?!" Asch and Luke shouted in unison.

Asch rested his head on his hand. "I can't believe we were down there for two years…"

Luke leaned back against a rail. "That would make us twenty, right?"

"No. _I'm_ twenty. You're ten.

"…Right."

"Now that I think about it," Aston interjected, "Noelle said something about going to Baticul for a Coming of Age Ceremony being held in honor of you two. I'm sure all of your friends are there too."

Asch and Luke exchanged an excited glance. "Can you take us there now?" Asch asked.

Aston looked confused. "I thought you two wanted to eat a meal at my house."

"We can eat later!" Luke shouted. "I want to see everyone as soon as possible."

Aston sighed. "Alright, but you'll have to ask Ginji to take you in the Albiore IV. This one is still in the testing stages. But first…" Aston's face turned serious. "…I have to show you two something."

Aston led them to a bridge overlooking the beach. "It's out over there." Aston pointed out toward the ocean.

Luke squinted into the horizon. "I don't see any—"

Aston cut him off by shoving the both of them over the railing and into the water below.

Asch was livid. "What the hell was that for?!" he sputtered. He was having difficulty treading water with all of his heavy clothes on.

Aston couldn't stop laughing. "You boys smell worse than a herd of rappigs! I couldn't in good conscience let you two go back to Baticul in your condition. So why don't you two just soak there for a while, and when you're not so rancid, I'll let you indoors to shower off."

Luke managed to grab on to a nearby buoy. "I never learned how to swim, you bastard! You could have killed me!" Aston threw down a life ring, but that didn't make Luke feel any better.

"You two stay put while I find a ladder," Aston said as he wandered off.

"Stay put?!" Asch yelled. "Where the hell would we go?"

"And your aim sucks!" Luke shouted. "I can't even reach the stupid life ring!"

Asch sighed in frustration, causing bubbles to form on the surface of the water. He grabbed the life ring and swam over to the buoy. "How is it that you don't know how to swim?"

"When would I have learned? They never let me out of the freaking manor! It's not like I could have practiced in the reflection pools…"

Asch rolled his eyes. "You really are as helpless as a ten-year-old brat."

"…Shut up."

Aston finally threw down a rope ladder. Luke grabbed the life ring and began a pathetic doggie paddle over to it.

Asch was amused as he watched Luke struggle up the ladder. "They didn't teach you how to climb, either?"

"Would you shut up?"

After the both of them made it to dry land, Ginji came to greet them. Aston had run off out of fear of bodily injury. "Um…Aston asked me to take you to my house to wash off. After that, I can take you to Baticul."

"Then what are we standing around for?" Luke shouted as he and Asch ran down the road.

"Hey, wait!" Ginji yelled. "You don't even know where I live!"

"Alright," Ginji said as they walked through his door, "There's a bathroom at the end of the hall and another one upstairs. There should be clean towels and a change of clothes in each one…" Both of the doors slammed before Ginji could even finish.

Asch must have enjoyed his nice hot shower too much, as by the time he came out of the bathroom, Luke was already gone. "Where the hell is he?"

"He said he needed to take care of a few errands," Ginji replied, "He'll meet us at the Albiore IV's docking station when he's done."

Asch shook his head as he headed for the door. "What could he possibly need to do all the way out here?"

Asch waited a full thirty minutes by the Albiore before Luke showed up. "Where the hell were you?"

Luke handed him a sword. "Here. This is to replace the one you lost on Eldrant."

Asch took the sword. "I don't believe that it took you a half an hour to buy a sword. What else were you doing?"

Luke studied Asch's new outfit. "Beige isn't your color."

"Don't change the subject."

Luke smiled and walked on board. Asch sighed and followed after him, realizing that he wasn't going to get Luke to talk.

Ginji managed to get them to Baticul just before the sun began to set.

As soon as the Albiore landed, Asch rushed for the exit. He only stopped when he noticed that Luke wasn't following him. "What's the matter, Sil, aren't you coming?"

"I think I want to see Eldrant first –or rather, what's left of it. I need to put a few things behind me."

"Can't you do that later?"

Luke shook his head. "The sooner I do this, the better. Besides," he said as he looked up into the reddening sky, "The selenias will be blooming soon."

Asch gave him a weird look. "Do what ever you want." And with that, he left and headed for Baticul's gates. The Albiore rose behind him, taking Luke to the place where his journey began, and where it ended.

-------------

Yeah, I completely pulled that date out of my ass, and I have no idea whether or not Asch and Luke share a birthday. (If anybody knows anything about their birthdays, please tell me!) I like to think that Asch was kidnapped/replicated on his birthday (Something with Van saying, "Hey, I have a surprise for you! But in order to get it, you have to come with me and not tell anyone about it!), and it makes it easier trying to figure out Luke's age. Anyway, at both the beginning of the game and right before you fight Van, it's mentioned that the whole kidnapping thing/Luke's birth happened seven years ago. Since the entire game spans about a year without Luke actually turning eight, and since the game begins at the beginning of the year, that would put the kidnapping at the very end of the year. If Asch was kidnapped on his birthday, that would make his birthday fall around the date that I picked. (Now if only I'd use these analysis skills in Lit/Comp instead of just using Sparknotes…)

The next chapter's the last one. Hope you've enjoyed reading so far. :)


	6. The Reunion

**A/N: Okay, since two people have brought this up... (skip this part if you don't care about time frames)**

**Yes, I realize that the Perfect Guide says that the gameplay took place over two years, and that the end scene takes place a year after the final battle (Or at least, that's what people have been telling me. I don't have the guide, nor can I read Japanese).**

**Even though this guide is supposed to be offical, I just don't see how it works out to be two years. Based on two different pieces of evidence from the game, I don't see how the gameplay could have taken more than a year.**

**First: At the very beginning of the game, Guy mentions that the kidnapping (as well as Luke's birth) happened seven years ago. Right before the final boss, Luke comments on how he's only seven years old. If the game spaned over two years, wouldn't Luke be eight or nine at the end, or five or six at the beginning?**

**Second: The date given after the Absorption Gate is Gnome-Redecan 28, ND2018, which means that the first half of the game took place over seven months, and that there are four and a half months left 'til the end of the year. Since at least half of the first part of the game is done without the Albiore or prior knowledge to the location of cities and dungeons, it can be assumed that this part took considerably longer than the last half of the game, where you pretty much always have the Albiore, and the characters know where almost all of their destinations are. For this reason, it is reasonable to believe that it only took four and a half months or less to get to Van.**

**Of course, this is relying on Guy and Luke being right about the time of the kidnapping, and considering that they're not the brightest characters... And also, this is based off of the English version of the game, which may have translated the dates differently from the Japanese version. **

**Well, whatever. If I'm wrong, it doesn't change the story very much.**

**-----------------**

Promises

Chapter 6

Turned heads and excited whispers followed Asch as he made his way to the castle. Some people approached him and asked if it was really him, but he ignored them. Right now, he wasn't interested in idle conversation.

When he made it to the castle gates, he asked the guards if they knew where Natalia was. The guards just stared at him dumbly, trying to decide whether or not he was an illusion.

Asch sighed and continued into the castle to seek an audience with his uncle, the king.

When Ingobert saw him enter, he gasped. "By Yulia…Is that you, Luke?"

Asch smiled. "Yeah, it is, though I'm not the one you're probably thinking of. I'm the original that went by Asch."

"And what of the other Luke?"

"He's here, but he wandered off somewhere…" Asch closed his eyes and focused on what he had come to do. "Is Natalia here? I really need to see her."

"I'm sorry, but you just missed her. She left on an airship about a half an hour ago."

"What?!" That meant that Natalia would have left right before Ginji landed. Asch couldn't believe his luck. "Do you know where she went?"

"I believe she went with the others to Tataroo Valley."

"But that's where…Dammit!"

"You can wait in a guest room until she returns, if you'd like."

"Thank you, Uncle," Asch mumbled. He stormed out into the hall and immediately opened up the channel he shared with Luke. _You bastard, why did you give me some cryptic message about selenias instead of telling me what you were doing?_

_Huh?_ Luke was confused. Ginji was just about to land the Albiore between the ruins of Eldrant and the opening of the valley. _All I meant was that I was going to pick some flowers for Tear for when I come back to Baticul…_

_You idiot, no one's here! They're all in Tataroo Valley!_

_What?!_ As the Albiore's engine died down, Luke could hear a song echoing out of the valley. "Tear…"

Luke rushed for the exit off the airship. "Ginji!" he called back, "If I'm not back in twenty minutes, go ahead and leave without me!" And with that, Luke took off down the valley.

Before long, Tear's song ended, and Luke began to hear the others' voices. They sounded close, so he allowed himself to slow down. Then, just as Luke came up a hill, he saw them. They were leaving. Luke was about to start running again, but Tear turned around and saw him.

Their eyes locked. They moved forward, just staring at each other.

…_I'm closing the link now…_Asch said, but Luke didn't even hear him.

"Why are you here?" Tear asked.

Luke smiled and looked around. "This place has a nice view of Hod. And because I promised someone."

And then Tear started to cry. In all the time that Luke had known her, he had never once seen her cry. She rushed over to him and collapsed into his arms. She was shaking and kept repeating, "You idiot…"

Luke looked up to see that Guy, Anise, and Natalia had also come up to greet him.

"Hey Tear," Guy said with a smile on his face, "Quit hogging the hero." Tear moved to the side for the others, but she wouldn't let go of Luke's hand.

Luke could tell that Guy and Anise were excited to see him, as they wouldn't stop talking. Luke learned that Guy was now the pilot of the Albiore V, and that Anise was now in the final stages of becoming Fon Master.

But Natalia remained silent. Even Jade had finally come over and given Luke a warm welcome. Natalia, however, just stood there with a forced smile, not saying a word. She seemed to be on the verge of tears, and Luke knew why.

"Can we go back to Baticul now?" Luke asked.

"What's the rush?" responded Guy.

With the most convenient timing, Luke's stomach growled loud enough for everyone to hear. Luke grimaced. "I haven't eaten since this morning…"

Everyone but Natalia laughed.

"C'mon, I'll show you my piloting skills!" Guy said.

"Like how you almost crashed into the ocean yesterday?" Jade retorted.

"That wasn't my fault! Mieu kept jumping on the controls!"

Luke put his arm around Tear as they made their way back to Guy's airship. _Hey Big Brother, I'm bringing your girl home to you._ Asch didn't respond, but Luke felt a rush of relief flow through the link.

As soon as they made it to the palace grounds, Natalia wished everyone a good night.

"But we're gonna have a party at Luke's house!" protested Anise. "Don't you wanna come?"

Natalia looked down. "I'm sorry, but I'm not feeling well right now. I should probably get some rest."

"But Natalia—" Guy started, but Luke cut him off.

"It's okay," Luke said, "We'll see you tomorrow, Natalia."

Natalia waved goodbye and then walked to the palace doors. As soon as the doors were closed behind her, she dashed for her room.

"Your majesty!" and excited servant exclaimed, "You have a visitor!"

"I don't care!" Natalia shouted back as she slammed her bedroom door. She then collapsed onto her bed and sobbed into her pillow.

She heard a knock at the door. "Go away!" But the door opened anyway. "I said go away!" Natalia screamed without even lifting her head.

"That wasn't the welcome I was expecting."

Natalia gasped. She rolled off her bed and turned to see Asch standing in the doorway.

"And why are you crying?" he asked with a soft smile. "Weren't you glad to see one of your friends alive?"

"Of course I was!" Natalia desperately tried to wipe away her tears. "It's just that I thought it was you. When I realized it was him, I…I…"

"It's alright." Natalia looked down. Asch moved over and lifted her chin so that she would look at him. "We're grown up now, so let's change this country together."

He then kissed her in the moonlight that streamed in through the window, the same light that glimmered in the ring that was now on Tear's finger as she kissed for the first time the man who had given it to her.

THE END

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I hope you enjoyed reading :)

Now allow me to fill in a few plot holes that weren't addressed in the story:

1. Where the hell is Mieu?  
He's at the Manor. After the whole Coming of Age Ceremony, he fell asleep. He is just a child, after all.

2. Aston mentioned something about Noelle going to the Ceremony. Why isn't she with the others in Tataroo Valley?  
Well, right now, due to some…er…"complications," she's trying to avoid flying for a while. (It's Guy's fault. :p) She's still in Baticul, helping Mrs. Fabre clean up.

3. Wait, Tear and Guy didn't go to the Ceremony, they just went to the Valley without Natalia and the others. So how did Natalia, Anise, and Jade get there if Guy had the airship?  
The ones who went to the Ceremony took the royal family's private airship (The Albiore VI). When they met up with Tear and Guy, they told the pilot to leave without them, since Guy could fly them back.

4. What was Luke doing in Sheridan?  
Guess. :3

Oh, and someone drew me a fanart!: http://www. deviantart. com/deviation/55683616/ AWESOMENESS!


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